Gore at age 30 remains highly productive, but the 49ers have planned for his eventual departure with a packed stable of backs. Hunter is coming off Achilles surgery but remains a strong bet to keep the No. 2 spot if he's healthy come September. James completes coordinator Greg Roman's three-headed monster in the backfield. Dixon is a possible cut amid reports the 49ers "really like" Hampton. Then there's Lattimore, who looms as Gore's potential replacement if he makes it back from knee surgery.

Lynch was the NFL's second-best runner behind Peterson last season. Like the 49ers, Pete Carroll's Seahawks have used the past two drafts to stock the shelves with physical young runners. Turbin was valuable spelling Lynch last season and should hold onto the No. 2 job. Running backs coach Sherman Smith said in June that Michael will have to earn his carries as a rookie, but he's going to win people over with his battering-ram style of play.

Like Gore and Lynch, Rice is another workhorse back who has carried the load for years. We tabbed Pierce to make the leap this season and move into more of a split-duty role with Rice. Pierce's workload increased as last season wore on, and the Ravens leaned hard on his downhill, tackle-shedding style in the playoffs. Rice is still the main dish, but Pierce makes this ground game a versatile beast.

If Tate could stay healthy, I'd be tempted to rank the Texans above the Ravens. The fourth-year pro struggled with injuries last season, but coach Gary Kubiak said Tate had a "really good" offseason. Foster is the unquestioned centerpiece here, with a league-leading 1,115 touches over the past three seasons. The Texans don't use Tate consistently enough to call this a committee approach, but both runners have been sensational in spots. We expect Houston to again crush teams on the ground.

Gregg Rosenthal likes the Eagles' backfield more than I do, but nobody's debating McCoy's value. He's arguably a top-five back and should enjoy a bounce-back season in Chip Kelly's run-heavy attack. Brown's four fumbles in four starts were an issue, but he was explosive when he wanted to be. Add Jones to the mix, and all three runners should see work in 2013.

Trading Chris Ivory to the New York Jets was addition by subtraction for the Saints. This was a crowded house last season, but Thomas is in position to have a productive year alongside Ingram. After the Saints finished 25th on the ground in 2012, coach Sean Payton told the team "we've got to get back to running the ball, having 100-yard games nonstop," according to Thomas. Sproles, meanwhile, gives Drew Brees one of the league's most dangerous, pass-catching X-factors out of the backfield.

Ridley's 1,263 yards and 12 scores didn't receive enough fanfare last season. He was an effective tackle-shedder and entered the offseason program "looking like a house." Ridley is the unquestioned starter here, especially with Vereen being used as a wide receiver in spring practices. Bolden is a punishing runner bound to improve upon his 56 carries as a rookie. Blount is fighting for a roster spot, while Washington remains dangerous as a return man.

Question marks abound. Stewart's ankle problems make him a shaky proposition heading into camp. If healthy, he'll start over Williams, who turned 30 in April and hasn't crossed the 1,000-yard mark since 2009. Carolina makes this list because of quarterback Cam Newton. Teams must prepare for him like a running back, and his 1,447 rushing yards over two seasons are no fluke. Tolbert is a versatile fullback who can carry the ball. Barner, Smith and Poole will compete for snaps, and someone from this group could emerge if Stewart and Williams are hobbled.

How would you rank the top backfields in the NFL? Personally, I am going to go two deep as that's what most but will factor in the 3rd and even 4th backs if they are worth factoring in.

1. Seahawks - Marshawn Lynch has gone from bust to top 5 RB in production. Behind him is Robert Turbin, who showed good ability as a rookie and Christine Michael, one of my favorite RBs from the class.

2. Texans - Foster is one of the best backs in the league, and Ben Tate is, in my opinion one of the top 2-3 backups in the league and could start for numerous teams.

[b]3. 49ers [/B Top to bottom the deepest backfield in the league in my opinion. Gore is a top 10-15 back, I really like Hunter and James showed some promise when given a chance. O yeah, they also have Lattimore stashed away.

4. Ravens - Ray Rice is one of the most complete backs in the NFL, Bernard Pierce is similar to Ben Tate and could carry the load if needed.

5. Bills - CJ Spiller is getting better and better, Fred Jackson may be on the decline but he could still produce and is still one of the better backups in the league despite his age.

6. Eagles - McCoy is one of the best, and I touted Bryce Brown as a steal before the draft. He's one of the most talented RBs I've seen, if he can hold onto the ball he can be something special. They also have Felix Jones.

7. Titans - I still consider CJ one of the best backs in the league, and Shonn Greene has crossed 1000 yds twice in his 4 year career, and is one of the most proven backups in the league.

8. Saints - This is perhaps the most complimentary set of RBs in the league. There is no one I would place as a top RB, but Thomas does well running, Sproles is a beast out of the backfield and Ingram is decent.

9. Patriots - Ridley is a stud, I've heard positive things about Vereen this offseason. Blount can still pound the ball and Washington is pretty dynamic.

10. Bears - Forte is one of the more complete backs and Michael Bush can pound it with the best of em, and is pretty decent out of the backfield as well.

Hahaha the thread title. Anyways, gotta go with my boys at the top spot. Gore is still a good starting back, James has shown potential and picked up the load when Kendall Hunter went down before injury. We'll see how Hunter performs when he comes back, but he was a very good compliment to Gore when he was around. Everyone was essentially effective. And we have Marcus Lattimore waiting in the wings.

After that I probably like the Ravens with the best 1-2 punch. Bernard Pierce could start for a lot of teams.

I honestly see those 1-4 as pretty much even. You can argue up and down for any of the 4. I do however see Gore and Lynch breaking down soon sadly, maybe 2-3 years. Their bodies just get beat up.

I agree. You could flip a coin on those I think. I could see Lynch having 3-4 years in him, the guy has 1/2 the amount of carries as Steven Jackson does right now. APs got around 500 more carries over his career. Lynch should be able to carry the load for 3 seasons at the minimum in my opinion

I agree with NFL.Com's list except I would put New Orleans behind New England and Carolina. I don't think any of those backs are feature backs, Cadet and Sproles are just speed guys used to spell starters and Thomas and Ingram haven't really shown that they can carry a team's running game. I don't think the Saints would be in my top eight.

A few other teams that he didn't mention but that I feel have good RB depth are the Bengals, Washington, and the Buccaneers.

I really like the backs that Cincy added through the draft, Bernard and Burkhead. Along with Burkhead and Bernard they also have Dan Herron and Bernard Scott as backups to BJGE.

Obviously Morris will get the almost all of the carries for a RB in Washington, but I was impressed at the play of Royster and Helu at the end of the 2011 season and think they are solid backs. Also I like the rookies they added, Chris Thompson and Jawan Jamison, as change of pace backs.

Like Washington the Buccaneers have one of the best RBs in the league who will probably get a large majority of the carries, but I like some of the young RBs they got in the offseason. Matt Brown is a great RB who plays bigger than he is, bouncing off tacklers and hard to bring down, Mike James is a solid goal line/short yardage back, and I'm still interested to see how Jeff Demps can be used.

I agree with NFL.Com's list except I would put New Orleans behind New England and Carolina. I don't think any of those backs are feature backs, Cadet and Sproles are just speed guys used to spell starters and Thomas and Ingram haven't really shown that they can carry a team's running game. I don't think the Saints would be in my top eight.[/list]

I just find the NFL.com one funny once they hit the Panthers. The Panthers have two very talented backs, but neither has produced a 1000 since 2009 when they both went for it. I know Cam factors into rushing opportunities that the RBs would otherwise take, but to say they have been a disappointment lately would be an understatement.

From my research, there are currently 13 NFL teams with a 1000 yard rusher from last season. The Titans have 2. Only 8 teams have a RB who carried 275 times or more last season. The Titans have 2.

"Those stats are deceiving because the Titans are one of the few teams to get a starting RB in FA" Yes, it's true. I will give you that. But it's still an important statistic. Even if you look at teams with 2- 1000 yard rushers in their career currently on the same team, the list is rather short:
(In no order)
1) CJ Spiller & Fred Jackson
2) DeAngelo Williams & Jonathan Stewart
3) Steven Ridley & LeGarrette Blount
4) Mike Vick & Lesean Mccoy
5) Ryan Mathews & Ronnie Brown

Obviously, half of those are past there primes and not likely to run for 1000 yards again, so we're in good company.

Yet, NFL.com doesn't give us even an honorable mention and mentions the Colts?

Freddy still showed some of his classic ability last year but he is breaking down. I love him as our #2, but the fumbles last year were killer. It felt like they always came at the end of a great play by him, which was just so deflating. Staying healthy is a concern at this point, as well.

Jackson showed some signs of wearing down last year, and 3.8ypc was a career low. I think he's still got some left in the tank, but placed them lower because I'd take younger #2's over him and want to see Spiller carry the ball another season before anointing him